Monarch 10EE Parts Help

[will.mcray]

I been doing some troubleshooting on my EE with a very helpful and knowledgeable Group member. I think I have narrowed down the problem which is a tough one to find, but I’ll ask and see what happens.

I have a 1947 10EE square dial and the faulty part seems to be the left rheostat closest the spindle motor, also known as the motor rheostat.

I am looking and hoping someone out there has one they may be able to part ways with. May be some one that has done a M/G VFD conversion.

Any help is grateful. Please send me a PM is you can assist.

Will


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[markba633csi]

It probably was back in the day a standard Allen-Bradley or Ohmite part, have you tried dealers in vintage ham radio parts?
www.fairradio.com for example
A part number and picture would be helpful, and the resistance value and wattage rating (usually printed on somewhere)
Does it look like this?:

-Mark
ps Do you know for certain the rheostat is faulty? Are they known for failing on that machine?

 

[will.mcray]

The issue with the 10EE rheostat is they are unique to this lathe. You just can get one from DigiKey and slap it in. Wish you could.


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[Beckerkumm]

Have you checked with the crowd at Practical Machinist? They have people selling parts and should help. Dave

 

[Karl_T]

Shoot, I asked here and on PM to sell all the DC drive components a couple times. No takers, so it all went to the scrap guy a few weeks ago.

FWIW, bite the bullet and upgrade it to a VFD. then it will run another 30 or more years without any issues. See my build thread.

 

[matthewsx]

The issue with the 10EE rheostat is they are unique to this lathe. You just can get one from DigiKey and slap it in. Wish you could.


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Well, that kinda stinks that someone was trying to sell the pieces you need and you didn't know you needed them until after they were gone. Upside is their stuff was probably just as old as yours. A rheostat is just an electrical component, either the physical form factor is incompatible or the electrical specs are too far off from anything available today if it's so "unique" that it can't be replaced with either a new or NOS component.

However, Karl is right I think. go ahead and convert to VFD's and you won't be sorry. I had a Gorton mill that was partially converted and both my lathes are VFD driven and I couldn't be happier with the results. There's no good reason to preserve the original electronics in one of these machines if you can do as well or better with modern technology.

That's one thing I love about this place, there's almost always someone who has BTDT and is willing to help out.

JOhn

 

[Cal Haines]

...

However, Karl is right I think. go ahead and convert to VFD's and you won't be sorry. ...

That's like saying "I can't find a distributor for the 260 V8 in my Shelby Cobra, so I think I'll put in a Chinese engine and go to the work of making my own adapter to connect it to the stock transmission". (And yes, a 10EE has a 6:1 back-gear transmission.)

Aside from changing brushes, a 10EE's motor/generator drive will run reliable from decades. I guarantee it will outlast any VFD setup. You just need to take the time to understand how it works. 10EE rheostats are available, it just takes a little while to find them.

Cal

 

[mksj]

Instead of everyone running in circles, do you have the some pictures and details (value, wattage, etc.) as to the component that needs to be replaced. I see references to both rheostats and variacs, which are totally different. There was a posting by an individual that mentioned a dual rheostat and it was $1K to have a replacement made, that is in the range of a VFD and a good motor. Mainstream VFD's these days have a 20-30 year operating span with continuous use, and the better ones you can replace the capacitors which usually have a service like of 6-10K operating hours. All kind of moot as the service life is probably longer than service life of the operator. Specific to rheostats and variacs, I have built tandem units from parts but only if they are stock values. Many are custom wound (non-linear), and just aren't available anymore without doing a custom run/build. There are several rewinding manufactures, but it may be a costly proposition. You also need to determine if the winding is worn/broken vs. a brush which should be easily repairable.

Example of a custom tandem dual independent rheostat for one of my tube testers, this can also be done with larger rheostats and variacs.

 

[matthewsx]

That's like saying "I can't find a distributor for the 260 V8 in my Shelby Cobra, so I think I'll put in a Chinese engine and go to the work of making my own adapter to connect it to the stock transmission". (And yes, a 10EE has a 6:1 back-gear transmission.)

Aside from changing brushes, a 10EE's motor/generator drive will run reliable from decades. I guarantee it will outlast any VFD setup. You just need to take the time to understand how it works. 10EE rheostats are available, it just takes a little while to find them.

Cal

Probably more like putting a Tesla power train into a ‘61 Rambler but I get your point. When I ran in the classic British car crowd there was a saying about modifications “it’s your car, do whatever you want”.

John

 

[Karl_T]

FWIW I disagree with the analogies above.

Mechanically the 10EE is one of the finest lathes ever built. For its era the drive was top shelf, but it is now obsolete and exceedingly difficult to repair.

I converted my first 10EE to VFD and five horse three phase 20 years ago. kept the back gear on this one. never had one issue in all that time.

I did a second one with an inverter duty 10 hp three phase and modern VFD last summer - no backgear. This machine should last many decades. If you send in a 10EE to be rebuilt by Monarch, they have done this exact upgrade.

My analogy, take the world's best lathe and install the finest modern drive made.

Now, if you like the old drive technology it can run just fine. But if something simple like a 80 year old rheostat goes down, expect to search months for a part. And no way can any local electrician do the repair.

just my two cents, both routes end up with a very fine lathe.